My story - Lainie M.

Like so many people, my struggles with debt started in college. I was naive about money, I was newly independent, and credit cards were easy to come by. And I ended up getting myself in too deep. It's a recurring cycle in my family...my mother and sister both declared bankruptcy, for the same reason.

Fast forward a bit. I'm now in my early 30's, and have about 25K in debt, including several collections, a tax offset, and 5 judgments. To put it bluntly, my credit stinks. I was able to get a car loan a few years ago, but at a hefty 16%. I'm ready to kick this monster called debt. I don't want my kids to learn the hard way like I did, and it's time to change my ways before it gets any worse.

I've already started the process of climbing out from under this. My offset will retire my defaulted student loan, and I've been able to verify three other debts; I've made substantial payments on two (one is now a 0 balance!), and am in arrangements on the third. I have eliminated over 2K in debt in the last 2-3 months. I know it will be a challenge to tackle this on my own, but it will be worth it in the long run. I can do this. :)